African bees

The students were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, treated and sent away, Regional Education Officer in Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), Mr. Baydewan Rambarran reported.

He said the headteacher closed the school soon after the killer bees attacked the children but after the Thursday closure, an experienced bee catcher removed a nest from the building and classes resumed as usual yesterday.

He said a similar attack took place at Zeelandia Secondary School, Wakenaam island Wednesday but, fortunately, sessions had already ended and the nest there was also destroyed, allowing normalcy to be restored the next day.

Rambarran said nearby residents escaped injury.

Invasions by the same type of bees are on the rise along the Guyana coastland and one person died as a result earlier this month.

Abdool Hamied, also known as ‘Dool’, 49, of Lot 6 Friendship Public Road, East Bank Demerara, succumbed on the way to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

His son, Tariq and six workers fled from Hamied’s farm unhurt.

Tariq told the Guyana Chronicle they were working on the plot when the swarm descended on them but his father was unable to flee as fast as them.

In another incident, eight persons in the backlands and two others, at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, were hurt and had to be hospitalised Monday.

One of them, Ramdai Matadin, 62, among a family of five, was stung in their Centre Street, Bath yard, around 15:00h.

The others were treated and sent away but she was kept at Fort Wellington Hospital for observation before being discharged Thursday.

At Waterloo Street, Bath, too, Shiroon Phillips, two of her children, an adult neighbour and three others were fishing in a trench aback of the village when they were set upon by bees around the same time Monday.

Phillips said she nearly drowned when she attempted to stay beneath the surface but swallowed some water.

She jumped out of the trench and ran with some of the bees, entangled in her hair, stinging her also on the face, neck and shoulders.

Eventually, Phillips said she fell to the ground and the bees continued to sting her before flying off.

Bees stung had killed two dogs at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara last week and there have been reports of other dangerous attacks on people and animals.